1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an indication display unit for vehicles wherein an image projected from an indicator that indicates information concerning the vehicle movement such as a vehicle speed and so on is reflected within the visible range of the windshield near the dashboard and directed towards the driver's visual point, so that the driver can visibly observe the indicated information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, there have been provided various indication display units of this type, a case in point being the one as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the indicator 10 for indicating vehicle movement information such as the vehicle speed or the like is disposed within the dashboard 20 and rather in the close proximity to the windshield 30, but which windshield is formed with a reflection processing section 30a at the lower portion thereof near the border line with the dashboard 20, whereby the image projected from the indicator 10 is reflected at the reflection processing section 30a disposed on the inner surface of the windshield 30 and directed to the visual point E of the driver.
With the unit as constructed above, the projected image appears within the visible range of the windshield 30 with the reflection processing section 30a for a background, thereby forming a so-called head-up display in which the driver can visibly observe the indicated image without turning his eyes up and down frequently, and in addition to this, since the projected image is displayed in a striking contrast due to the function of this reflection processing section 30a, the driver can observe it very clearly. It is to be noted that the reflection processing section 30a can be formed in such a manner that a black ceramic coating 40 is applied to the windshield 30 as shown in FIG. 4, or that a dark-colored light intransmissive film 40' is disposed between the two glass plates forming the windshield 30 as shown in FIG. 5.
However, since the reflection processing section 30a can be clearly observed even from outside the vehicle in the conventional type indication display unit as disclosed above, it could harm the external appearance of the vehicle, and therefore such an arrangement is not preferable from the esthetic point of view. Further, due to the fact that the windshield 30 is formed with the reflection processing section 30a, in case this construction is provided as an optional device, two types of windshields 30 must be manufactured, which in fact is not preferable from the economical point of view either. And in addition, there exists also another problem that once the reflection processing object such as the reflection processing section 30a is applied to the windshield, it cannot be easily removed even in case it is no more needed afterwards.